title: Exposures to molds in school classrooms of children with asthma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Students spend a large portion of their day in classrooms which may be a source of mold exposure. We examined the diversity and concentrations of molds in inner-city schools and described differences between classrooms within the same school.
  
  
  METHODS
  Classroom airborne mold spores, collected over a 2 day period, were measured twice during the school year by direct microscopy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 180 classroom air samples collected from 12 schools. Mold was present in 100% of classrooms. Classrooms within the same school had differing mold levels and mold diversity scores. The total mold per classroom was 176.6 ± 4.2 spores/m3 (geometric mean ± standard deviation) and ranged from 11.2 to 16,288.5 spores/m3. Mold diversity scores for classroom samples ranged from 1 to 19 (7.7 ± 3.5). The classroom accounted for the majority of variance (62%) in the total mold count, and for the majority of variance (56%) in the mold diversity score versus the school. The species with the highest concentrations and found most commonly included Cladosporium (29.3 ± 4.2 spores/m3), Penicillium/Aspergillus (15.0 ± 5.4 spores/m3), smut spores (12.6 ± 4.0 spores/m3), and basidiospores (6.6 ± 7.1 spores/m3).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study found that the school is a source of mold exposure, but particularly the classroom microenvironment varies in quantity of spores and species among classrooms within the same school. We also verified that visible mold may be a predictor for higher mold spore counts. Further studies are needed to determine the clinical significance of mold exposure relative to asthma morbidity in sensitized and non-sensitized asthmatic children.
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Sachin N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Baxi
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Muilenberg
authors.forename: Christine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Sheehan
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gaffin
authors.forename: Perdita
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Permaul
authors.forename: Lianne S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Kopel
authors.forename: Peggy S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Jeffrey P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Lane
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: Carter R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Petty
authors.forename: Chunxia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Diane R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Gold
authors.forename: Wanda
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Phipatanakul
mesh_terms: D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012621:Seasons; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens
keywords: asthma; children; fungus; inner-city; mold; school